Henry loe wenberg



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HENRY LOEWENBERG, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO MOD] HAT COMPANY.

Letters Patent No. 86,426, dated February 2, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN METAL-FACED DIES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OI IMI'I'A'TION S'I'l GOODS.

The schedulereferred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same T 0 all whom 71 preparation, which may be beeswax al0ue,'or in Be it known that I, HENRY LOEWENBERG, of the composed of equal quantities, by weight, of bee city, county, and State of New York, have invent-ed and gutta-percha, or other suitable'resin or fat, anew and useful Process for Manufacturing Metalare simmered together, at about the boiling-poi Faced Dies, for the Manufacture of Imitations of Flexthe mixture, until they are thoroughly combine ible, Porous, Natural Objects, such as lace goods and This preparation is applied while hot, by mean straw goods, and that the following is a full, clear, and brush, and in such quantities as to penetrate the i exact description of my invention. article. I

My invention consists of a process of producing a This application renders the interior of the metal-faced die, which is a counterpart of the surface practically impenetrable by acids or alkaline solu] of a flexible, porous, natural article, of the form and and it also stiifens the article, which is advantag size of the imitations to be manufactured, and my pro- To the exterior of the article is applied a res: cess consists of the following operations, viz: varnish, and the varnish used for this purpose m:

First, the filling of the pores of the flexible, porous, that produced by dissolving gum-ammoniac in alc natural article (which serves as the prototype of the in the proportions of one pound of the gum to 1 imitations to be manufactured) with a preparation that pounds of alcohol, of ninety-five per cent. Or renders it practically impervious to water, or aqueous varnish may be the flocking-varuish used by in solutions of acids or alkalies. i'acturers of wall-papers, which varnish is comp0s Second, the staying of the article in the shape of the linseed-oil, gum-copal, Burgundy pitch, and spiri face of the die to be made. turpentine.

Third, the preparation of the portion of the surface This varnish is applied with a brush, and shoul of the treated flexible, porous article from which the sufficiently liquid to strike into the article uni die is to be made, so as to render it a conductor of meets the composition previously applied to th electricity. terior, so that all the pores of the article are tille Fourth, the deposition of a metallic shell upon said a neutral material that is not affected practicall surface by electrotyping it. acid solutions.

Fifth, the transformation of the metallic shell into If the fiocking-varnish, when purchased from a die, by combining it with a mass of material which maifllfacturer, is not suificiently liquid for this purp will adhere rigidly to the shell, so that the shell and its consistency should be reduced,,by adding spirit backing are united as thoroughly for all practical purturpentine to it. poses as if made of one piece of metal. The purpose of filling the pores of the article, i It will thus be seen that the acting surface of the prevent acid or alkaline solutions from penetrating metal-faced die is produced directly from the surface substance, and the varnish is also a suitable mean of the flexible, porous article, as distinguished from" retaining a coating of plumbago, when that mate being produced indirectly by being formed upon a cast is used to make the surface a conductor of electrir or mould taken from the article, and as the mode of While the exterior of the varnished article is treating the article, (by a liquid, resinous preparatiom) sticky, finely-powdered black-lead, or plumbago, is and of making its surface a conductor of electricit plied to it, and brushed evenly and thoroughly, s does not practically affect the form of the surface of to produce a surface that will conduct electricity, w the article, the die, when finished, has for all'practiout materially affecting the form of the surface of cal purposes all the peculiarities of the surface of the straw. article from which it has been made. Then the prepared article is bent to the form of My invention may be used for the manufacture of. face of the die required, and is stayed in that fo: dies from various flexible and porous articles, such as the mostconvenient means of effecting this being leaves, straw goods, lace goods, 850.; and in order that stick the article fast to a stay of sheet-brass, by wzu it may be fullyunderstood, I will proceed to describe ing the composition on its interior. the best mode with which I am acquainted of practis- The sheet-brass stay should approximate in form ing it, when the die to be made is one suitable for the that of the interior of the article, and should be coa' manufacture of imitations of articles of natural straw, beforehand with beeswax, or with the composition such as bonnets. gutta-perchaand beeswax.

I procure an article of natural straw, of the form The prepared article, stayed into the desired for and size of the imitation-articles to be manufactured, is immersed in a suitable electrotyping-bath, is c (as, for example, 'a natural Leghorn-straw bonnet,) or nected with a battery, and is electrotyped with copp I procure the natural straw-braid, and have it made iii the usual manner, which, being -well known, (h into thedesired article, in the usual manner. not require a detailed description.

To the interior of this article is applied a resinous When the electrotype has formed upon the artii sired thickness, say about one-fortieth of an article with the electrotype upon it is removed bath, and the article is stripped out of the pe, which has the form of a shell, whose inteaounterpart, in size and surface, of the flexible, latural article, upon which it has been depos is also a counterpart of the form in which article was stayed. 1ell is tinned upon its exterior, by being heated .gh to melt tin-foil, which is applied to it in the anner practised in preparing electrotypes for or the back of the shell may be tinned by the tinsmiths copper, in the usual way practised iiths, and the shell is then backed by casting Jype-metal upon it, in the usual manner pracelectrotypers the face of the shell being first with clay, to prevent the accidental adhesion metal to it. backing-operation may be eifected in' several the shell may be placed upon a table, and ,ded by a box or mould, of the required form .ie, and then-melted type-metal maybe poured mould, care being taken, as is customary in IGIZttlODS, to prevent the shell from rising in the 1e shell may be supported, during the operapm; a bed of dry clay, well rammed, or of plas- Paris.

heshell may be supported upon a core of typeformed by casting type-metal into the shell, mould be previously rubbed with clay, to prevent )n; and, if necessary, the exterior of. the shell 5 supported, during the casting of the core, by ld-board of wood, or a bedding of dry clay, or tster, well rammed.

type-metal unites with the. tinned surface of .ell, and completes the die, which, by reason of lion that has been effected between the copper ,nd metal back, through the intervention of the g, is practically as solid as if made of one piece tal.

en the mass has cooled, the whole is removed the mould, audits exterior is, by preference, -,d up in a planer, (for planing metals,) so that its n is, true and level, and its exterior is of the exze required.

When the planing-operation has been performed, the die (when cleansed of the clay) is an article, having one of its surfaces (its interior) a substantial counterpart of the surface of the flexible, porous, natural article, which has served as a pattern, with all the curvature and inequalities that are peculiar to the form in which it was stayed previous to depositing the shell, while the back is adapted to fit the platen of the press in which it is to be used.

Having thus described the operations of which my process is composed, and the mode in which I prefer to perform them, I declare that I am aware that deposits have been made, by the electrotype-process, upon flexible, porous articles, such as cloth and leaves, for the purpose of coating them with copper, which was left upon their surfaces, I am also aware that dies have been made, by the electrotype-process, from inflexible articles, such as composition and plaster articles, which do not require to be stayed in the form of the desired die; I am also aware that dies from straw goods have been described as made of electrotype-shells, backed with melted zinc or brass, poured directly upon the shells, (without tinning.them,) which mode of manufacture I believe to be practically valueless, and incompetent to produce a useful die; and I am also aware that dies of shells, tinned and backed with type-metal, have been made from impervious casts or moulds, taken from porous, flexible, natural articles, in which case the process is indirect, and the first three of the operations of my process are not performed. I do not claim, therefore, the separate operations of which my process is composed, nor a combination of two or more of such operations, less than the five before specified; but

What I claim as nay-invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The process, substantially as herein described, of prodncing metal-faced dies, for the manufacture of imita-' tions of flexible, porous articles, directly from such articles, by the five operations before specified.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 6th day of March, A. D. 1867.

- HENRY LOEWENBERG. Witnesses:

E. S. RENWICK, W. L. BENNEM. 

